


A Seventh Year Fairy Tale

by ashascottpowell



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 13:59:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14310204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashascottpowell/pseuds/ashascottpowell
Summary: A re-telling of James and Lily's road to finding each other. How will the two teenagers find each other among the impending chaos of the first wizarding war.





	1. Nostalgia

* * *

 

 

Platform 9 ¾ was always packed full of students on September 1st. 1977 was no exception. Lily Evans made her way through the crowd in search of her friends, Marlene Mckinnon, Dorcas Meadows and Alice Prewett. Lily spotted Dorcas first, being the tallest out of the trio. Her hair had grown longer over the summer, stopping just at her waist. Lily quickly ran through, dragging her luggage behind her. Lily felt a wave of nostalgia hit her. This would be the last time she’d ever board the Hogwarts express, heading there for the last time as a student. Lily felt tears start to build in her eyes as she approached Dorcas, both Marlene and Alice nowhere to be found.

“Hey Lils! You alright?” Dorcas asked, noticing Lily’s mood.

“Oh Dorcas, I guess it’s just really hitting me. This is all going to be over soon. I don’t know if I’m ready to say goodbye to Hogwarts just yet.” She sniffled.

“Well be glad then you have the whole year to say goodbye to it. Come on, I think the others have already gotten on board.” She giggled and tucked her arm in Lily’s. Lily quickly boarded the train and the two girls checked into an empty carriage. They waited there for fifteen minutes or so before Alice and Marlene joined them, followed by Emmeline Vance and Mary MacDonald. The group of six quickly caught up with what they’d all missed over the summer. Both Mary and Lily, being muggle-born, hadn’t had the opportunity to meet up with the rest of the girls over the summer. Lily in particular had felt really out of the loop this summer. The majority of her family were incredibly supportive of her magic, seeing it as a blessing and something to admire, all except her sister; Petunia. Lily had begged and begged her parents to let her have an owl of some sorts, hoping that she’d be able to write to her friends over the summer, but under Petunia’s influence they had never relented. This hadn’t been such a problem when she was younger, she’d hang out with Severus often enough that she could use his owl to send letters back and forth with her friends that lived further from her, but since the incident back in fifth year, she’d found it incredibly difficult to be around him, let alone ask him for a favour. So instead, she had accepted her lack of communication, and had opted for a quiet summer all the less, only ever using magic when doing any studying she felt was needed to keep on top of her studies. Other than that, her summer had been as muggle as it could be, she’d gone camping for a week with her cousins, Petunia opting to stay with Vernon; her NEW fiancee, in a hotel down the road. Lily felt herself feel quite jealous as a matter of fact, listening to Emmeline talk about the Quidditch World Cup, and how she and Marlene had gone to watch it.. Or how Alice had spent the whole summer travelling through Europe, watching different bands and visiting different magical communities with her cousins Fabian and Gideon.

“In all honesty, France was probably my favourite aspect of travelling. The eiffel tower was magnificent! I went to visit Beauxbatons Academy as well! Did you know they do a summer course every year?” Lily quickly zoned out, not particularly paying attention when she felt her arm being nudged.

“Lily, don’t you have a meeting to attend? Head girl and all?” Mary asked innocently. Lily’s stomach sunk. She’d completely forgotten. All the nostalgia of first day back, or more so it being her last first day back had made her mind wander to anywhere but her head girl duties. She shot up and ran straight out of the carriage compartment, speeding through the narrow carriage corridor. She reached the compartment with so much speed, her foot managed to get caught around the corner of the door forcing her to fall head first into the compartment. She heard laughter as she hit the floor. Her head snapped up to see the compartment filled with all the prefects from last year as well as the newly appointed fifth year prefects… and James Potter. She scanned quickly, her eyes honing in on the Head Boy badge strapped to her chest. She’d assumed it would be Remus. She scanned the carriage again to see Remus sitting opposite James, suppressing a smirk himself.

“Want a hand?” James asked, offering his hand to her. She declined snappily, quickly getting to her feet as she felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. “I was just saying that we’ll be giving out the patrol schedule at some point this week once we’ve gone over it together.” Her eyes widened. Not only was James Potter Head Boy, he had taken initiative and started the meeting. She simply nodded, still embarrassed by her late start. She also noted that everyone in the carriage had changed into their robes already, while she was still in her muggle clothes. A corduroy skirt and a baggy t-shirt.

“If you don’t have anything to add, shall we say meeting adjourned?” Lily simply nodded again. James dismissed the rest of the carriage before actually turning to Lily. He looked at her in confusion. “Rough day?” He smirked. Lily rolled her eyes.

“How the hell are you head boy?” James feigned hurt, clutching his heart.

“Oh Evans you wound me.”

“You can’t be. This must be some mistake! You weren’t even a prefect last year.”

“I guess Dumbledore just couldn’t resist my intelligence and pure genius and had no other option but to give me the position.” He shrugged. She blinked at him again.

“But all you’ve done for the past six years is break rules and tease people.”

“I wasn’t the one late to the prefect’s meeting.” He teased again.

“ONE misdemeanor is nothing in comparison to all the stuff you’ve pulled over the years Potter.”

“Oh c’mon Evans, do you really want to start a fight with the Head Boy? I could give you detention!”

“And there you go, abusing your newfound power.” James sighed and resignation.  
Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are. But there’s nothing we can do about it. I’m Head Boy, you’re Head Girl. We should at least try and get along.”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to get along with you once you stop being such an insufferable, arrogant toerag!” Lily stormed out of the carriage straight after that, walking straight into Severus Snape who had been lurking just outside.

“Watch where you’re going Lily. Never knew you were so clumsy.”

“Not now Severus.” She tried to side step him, but he refused to move, grabbing her arm in the process.

“Can we just talk please?”

“Let go of me. I’ve heard everything you’ve had to say and it doesn’t change anything. Now let go.” She yanked her arm free, and stormed off down the corridor. Snape watched her as she went, still desperate for her forgiveness.

“Don’t tell me you’re stalking me now Snape? Didn’t get enough of me in the prefects meeting?”

“Oh shove off you tosser.” Snape snapped back which only made James snicker even more.

“Sorry Snape, you’re not really my type. I like girls who at least try to wash their hair more than once a month.” James had barely finished his sentence when Snape had drawn back his wand.

“Expulso.” He shouted, throwing James backwards into the air, landing on his back. James grunted as he hit the floor before scrambling up.

“Really Snape? You’re going to curse the new Head Boy first day back? Expelliarmus! And that’ll be twenty points from Slytherin before we’ve even started. Congratulations.” He barged Snape’s shoulder as he passed, before stalking off into his own carriage. He was met with the sight of the Marauders, all of whom had already binged on their takings from the trolley. Peter handed James two chocolate frogs and a licorice wand to which James was greatful.

“How was Lily?” Remus asked carefully, unsure of how the two would have handled things. Remus himself had to admit he was also surprised at the mature way in which James had conducted himself during the prefects meeting. Not only had James patiently waited for Lily for five minutes after the meeting was due to start, but he respectfully regarded her absence quickly before addressing the new prefects. He had also graciously handled how little some of the prefects, particularly those from Slytherin, had taken him seriously.

“It could have gone worse I guess. She’s as surprised as everyone else is I suppose that I’m Head Boy. Should’ve been you mate.”

“I guess werewolf doesn’t quite meet the job requirements.” The boys all laughed.

“I’d take a werewolf as head boy any day, don’t you worry Moony.” Sirius chimed in, mouth full of chocolate.

“I did run into Snape though, after the meeting.”

“And how is our favourite greaseball?” Sirius continued.

“Well, he did seem quite agitated. Cursed me halfway across the train. Must’ve spoken to Lily before he saw me. Only she can rile him up that much.” It was no secret to the boys that Snape had been in love with Lily for as long as James had. It was also no secret that Lily had never expressed interest in either of them. Unlike James however, Snape had managed to worm his way into her friendship up until fifth year when he’d insulted her blood status like the true Slytherin he was. Ever since, Lily had avoided him like the plague, doing everything in her power to never be closer than five meters with him. This amused the Marauders in particular, as they also shared a hatred of Snape, and loved watching him squirm under Lily’s disapproval.


	2. A Sickening Feast

 

Lily sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, having endured the long sorting ceremony, before Dumbledore’s beginning of year speech. She wasn’t prepared for, however, the terrible things Dumbledore had to say. 

“I hope everyone’s journey’s weren’t too boring and long. Now… to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits! It will be both exactly the same and completely different from what you left last year. But first, I must address the strange goings on as of late in our wonderful world. It seems that Tom Riddle, who has come to be known as Lord Voldemort has been rising up in power, and is rumoured to be behind countless attacks, both magic and muggle. I do advise you to keep an eye on your families while you are here, through the owlery. Hogwarts, is and always will be completely safe against the powers of Voldemort, however it is our suspicion that we will be a target in the foreseeable future. I also feel I owe it to you to inform you on his targets. Voldemort is a firm believer of pure wizarding blood, meaning that the majority of his victims are those such as muggle-borns and any wizarding families who support them. Try not to let this alarm you too much this year, Hogwarts is your home and will always be here to provide protection. As I mentioned earlier, we have plenty of new changes to both the curriculum this and staff team this year….” Lily was no longer listening. How had it gotten this bad? How had she not heard about any of this? She’d been on the train for a full three hours with all her friends and not a single person mentioned it. She suddenly looked around to see that a couple others were also visibly uncomfortable. She locked eyes with Mary, who was also muggleborn. Mary looked noticably paler. She was sat across the table from Lily and gave her a reassuring nod before focusing back on Dumbledore. Lily however looked past Mary, her eyes landing on Severus who was watching her intently. It made her nauseous. He looked guilty. His guilty expression made things very clear for her as well. He’d definitely picked a side. He was surrounded by people such as Mulciber and Avery, both of whom were very loud in their beliefs and ideologies. Both of whom looked almost smug at her discomfort. Dumbledore had barely finished speaking when Lily got up to make her way back to the dorm.

“Where you heading Lils?” Marlene called after her.

“Gonna get a headstart on unpacking.” Lily said halfheartedly, already having left her seat. She left the great hall in a hurry, not really caring if she was being dramatic. She rushed straight to Gryffindor Tower before realising she hadn’t been informed on the new password yet. McGonagall was supposed to be informing her and James of that shortly after the feast, and she’d just skipped out on it. Second misdemeanor of the year and the first day wasn’t even over yet. She sat outside the portrait hole, feeling dizzy and nauseous while she waited for someone with the password to open the portrait hole for her. She had only been sat there for ten minutes or so before James appeared, looking confused.

“Alright Evans?”

“Please just open the portrait hole.”

“I was sent to bring you to our new dorms, our bags are there. Head privileges.”

“Okay whatever, please just hurry I think I’m gonna vomit.” Luckily for Lily, the Head

Dormitories were only the new floor up. James quickly let her in and she ran straight through to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. James sat on the sofa, marvelling at the dormitory. It had been decorated to match the Gryffindor common room, with the same fireplace and lion portrait above it. The curtains were also decorated in Gryffindor colours. James smiled, immediately feeling at home and less intimidated by the space. He sat there for roughly ten minutes before decided to see if there was anything he could do for Lily. He gently knocked the bathroom door.

“What do you want?” She called from the other side of the door.

“Do you want any help or anything?” He smirked slightly at her contempt for him. She just groaned in response. He quickly asked “Can I come in?” which merited another grunt from the other side of the door. She was sat with her face over the toilet, her bright and fiery hair damp and crowding her face. He leant down next to her and quickly pulled her hair away to reveal her face, which was covered in a layer of sweat. “Something you ate or?” She shuddered slightly. 

“I guess living in the muggle world means not being caught up on the latest magical news. Hearing all that stuff about what’s going on with You-Know-Who at the moment all at once just overwhelmed me I guess. I’m just being stupid.”

“I freaked out a bit when I first started hearing about it too, don’t worry. Maybe we should get you to bed, so you can sleep it off?” She nodded reluctantly and allowed him to help her up. Truth be told she wasn’t particularly thrilled with the idea of being in such close proximity to Potter. She didn’t enjoy that she had to lean as much of her weight on him as she was, but she had to swallow her pride to save her dignity. She didn’t think her crawling up the stairs would do her any favours having already fallen into a carriage, storming out of the great feast and rushing into throw up in their new dormitory, all in that single day. James lead her to her bedroom and helped her into bed before quickly heading out. Sharing a common room with Lily Evans was going to be interesting, he could tell.

* * *

 

Lily woke with a start, feeling incredibly hungry. She dressed quickly and rushed down to breakfast. She was one of the first to be there and grabbed her usual two slices of toast with a glass of orange juice. She didn’t have to wait long before Dorcas and Alice joined her at the table.

“Marlene threw a pillow at us when we tried to disturb her from her slumber.” Alice responded to Lily’s questioning looks. 

“Are you okay? You rushed off in quite a hurry last night!” Dorcas asked, sliding in beside her with a plate full of scrambled eggs and tomatoes. 

“Yes. Sorry about that. I feel like I dropped off the face of the earth this Summer. I didn’t have a clue things had gotten even half this bad.” The two girls nodded in understanding, knowing full well what they were referring to. 

“Sorry about that Lils. I guess it was stupid of me to just assume you’d have known what was going on.”

“Yeah I figured it was a sensitive subject for you which is why I didn’t try and bring it up.” Alice replied sheepishly. Lily frowned. Was it a sensitive subject for her? She hadn’t really had time to process how she felt exactly. Obviously she was upset that innocent people were being murdered. She definitely felt anger towards those responsible. But other than that, she wasn’t sure how she felt? Should she feel afraid? She was a muggle-born after all. She was the epitome of all that You-Know-Who wanted to rid the world of. That should send shivers down her spine, but it didn’t.

“No it’s okay. There’s no way you could’ve known whether I’d know or not.” At that moment Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew wandered into the Great Hall. It was odd seeing the trio without James Potter among them. He was probably still in his separate dormitory. Lily mused that the boys must be feeling separation anxiety, having not seen them apart from each other more than a handful of times all the years she’d known them. Remus came and sat down next to the girls.

“Morning Remus, settled in yet?” Dorcas asked politely. Dorcas had always had a small and sweet crush on Remus and was always going out of her way to talk to him or help him in any way. Of course, Remus was completely oblivious to this. Low confidence and self loathing tends to do that to a person. Instead he sought out a friendship in Dorcas, the same he had with Peter, Sirius and James. 

“Great thank you Dorcas. Odd knowing this is our final year though.” Sirius jumped up onto the bench before sliding in and loading his plate with plenty of sausages, bacon, beans, eggs, and pretty much everything else you could imagine would go in an English breakfast. 

“What’re you doing? Stocking up for winter?” Lily snarked. Sirius laughed.

“Just making up for all the food you missed last night when you stormed off.” He shrugged, before burying his face into the food, practically inhaling it as he went. Lily flushed red, forgetting just how many people must have watched her impulsive tantrum last night. She suddenly was very aware of everyone in the great hall. The looks she got as people passed her, assessing her.

“Just wasn’t feeling too well. All better now.”

“Must be James’ healing touch. He did come to help you didn’t he? Head over heels that one.” Sirius mused. Lily simply rolled her eyes, tired of hearing of James’ supposed feelings for her. She knew it was all a facade to annoy her. James Potter had always found it incredibly fun and amusing to tease her with false compliments and displays of affections. Once in fourth year, he had hexed the fountain of punch at the Halloween feast to produce bubbles in the shapes of hearts anytime she tried to drink from there. It was little pranks like this that made Lily dread having to work and live with him as Head Boy. He had been quite helpful and sweet last night though, helping her into bed when she wasn’t so steady on her feet. She hadn’t noticed till this morning, the absence of jokes and flirtatious remarks made. This, however was made up by Sirius. “Bet he made you sweat more than any fever could.” He giggled in between bites. Lily sighed before taking another sip of her orange juice. 

“What lesson do you all have next?” She asked, trying to change the subject. 

“I have advanced ancient runes. What about you?” Lily hated the thought of taking ancient runes, and was glad she hadn’t let Dorcas persuade her into it.

“Defence against the dark arts.”

“I have that too, with the new professor right?” A voice from above her called. She looked up to find Potter staring down at her. He slid in next to Remus, grabbing a plate similar to Sirius’.

“New professor?” She asked. 

“You really weren’t paying attention last night were you Lilykins?” Sirius snorted. Lily rolled her eyes and was about to snap back before Potter interrupted. 

“Are you feeling any better this morning Evans?” She looked back at him wide eyed, and nodded simply before tucking back into her food. 

The rest of breakfast flew by in a hurry and Lily found herself waiting outside the DADA classroom, with the others who had taken it for advanced NEWT level. This included Marlene, Potter, Sirius Black, Remus and of course Snape just to name a few. Professor Edgar Ainsley sauntered through the crowd and into the classroom. He was quite eccentric in stature, and seemed to have modelled his whole look on John Lennon during the mid 60’s with spectacles, along with very brightly coloured robes.

“Morning class, I have assigned you all a seating arrangement for now. Today will be a get-to-know-you session, so I understand everyone’s abilities, limits and talents. I assume you’re all of decent standard, or you wouldn’t be in my class. However, if you don’t prove yourself, I am more than happy to remove you. I will not have unskilled witches and wizards leaving my classroom with a NEWT in my subject.” He flicked his way to reveal the seating arrangement. Lily felt like someone had just kicked her in the gut. James Potter one side of her, Severus Snape the other side, with Marlene sat on the other side of the class with Sirius, Remus and even Emmeline. She sighed inwardly as she made her way to her allocated seat. Severus eagerly made his way to his seat next to Lily, clearly excited at the prospect to be in such close proximity to her. Surely this meant she’d have to talk to him at some point right? Lily was surprised to see that James also seemed to dread the seating arrangements. 

“I can’t believe I’m stuck for this term at least with the two of you.”

“Oh how I love to hear your enthusiasm for my presence on a daily basis. Please continue to express your loathing of me to people who didn’t ask to hear it.” James snapped back bitterly. He had tried the whole morning and most of last night to try and make her feel a bit more comfortable. Truthfully he’d probably continue trying to make an effort with her, however he had found himself tired for the moment. He also didn’t enjoy the idea of having to share Lily’s company with Snape. The very bigot who had called her that filthy word two years ago. The same bigot who he suspected to have recently underwent the initiation to full blown death eater. He had no evidence to support this of course, but he definitely felt as though it was a strong possibility. He slumped in his seat and took out his parchment. The whole lesson was basically a pop quiz. Professor Ainsley would ask plenty of theory questions in which they’d have to note down the answers, followed by a request to demonstrate some practical knowledge of said question. The only highlight of the lesson was probably watching Wilkes; a slimey Slytherin, getting picked on to demonstrate the Levicorpus jinx and managing to only levitate himself in the process, causing Professor Ainsley to have to try and reach up to get him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave any comments etc on how I can improve! I do apologise, I'm awful at ending chapters.


End file.
